Aldridge Fayre Set To Be Another Record Breaker 

On Saturday, the Mayor of Walsall, Councillor Gary Clarke, accompanied by the Mayoress Mrs Yvonne Clarke, formally opened the 16th annual Aldridge Fayre. The event, organised by the Aldridge & District Lions Club, is the major community event for the area and raises much needed money not only for the Lions club but also for several local charities. Also in attendance for the event was Richard Shepherd MP, for Aldridge & Brownhills.

Although a little windy, the rains stayed away and the dry, and at times bright, weather brought out the crowds in their thousands. Fayre organiser, John Hand, said, “The plans have come together well and the Lions club are very pleased that we have had such a great turnout of both stalls and attendance. As the Fayre is on an open field we are unable to charge for admission but our major aim is to allow the many charities that attend to raise funds for their own needs.”

He added, “The one big disappointment is the cancellation of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight flypast of a Spitfire and Hurricane aircraft. We had a last minute ‘phone call advising that the predicted high winds and low cloud were not safe to allow these historic, iconic aircraft to fly.”

Despite this, the Fayre offered a complete day of entertainment for everyone with a full programme of events. In addition to over 50 charity and trade stalls there was a large fun fair and a range of arena events including the New Washboard Syncopators, the Aldridge School Band, Jo Leigh School of Dance, Khalgani & Prana Dance Troupes, Walsall Junior Coronets, Cannock Chase Drum Corps and the Panthers judo display.

Each year the Aldridge Lions give help to a host of local, national and international needs but they also have a specified Presidents project for which they raise funds and the income from the Fayre raffle is a major input to these funds.

The chosen organisation for this years project was the Royal National Lifeboat Institute and the Club President, Clyde Redfern, handed over a cheque for £1500 to the RNLI. Additionally, cheques totalling £400 were presented to the Walsall Hospice for their “joy of six” appeal and to the Mayor for his annual charity fund.

Lions Club President, Clyde Redfern, said, “The Fayre is one of our major events of the year. It is a chance for local charities to use the opportunity given by this community event to raise funds for their own causes. Each year we help over 40 charities in this way and its success is measured by the high number coming back. Whilst we support various needs throughout the year it is really good to be able to hand over three cheques at our Fayre.”

For the forthcoming year, the Aldridge Lions have chosen Marie Curie Cancer Care and Walsall Arthritis Support and Care groups as their major benefiting charities from the Fayre which will be held on Saturday 18th June.